The Malik Report

Update: Let’s all be surprised that even TSN’s Kerry Fraser now thinks that the NHL should establish a new “Weber rule,” if you will, to ensure that players aren’t allowed to “Weber” other players’ heads into the glass…

This is why I hate leaving the house (s’okay, the de-facto therapist and I talked about hockey) on game days: between a nondescript morning skate and the afternoon, playoff hockey always finds a way to surprise you with unusual developments.

Now in Detroit, we have “Kronwalling,” which is a reference to an event that isn’t exactly popular outside of Detroit, we are all familiar with the Datsyukian Deke and the Babcockian Death Stare, and there’s more after that, so I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that fans in Nashville have decided to elbow their way into a Twitter phenomenon by throwing their support behind their captain’s actions, if only in jest.

But what do I think about this as a Red Wings fan who wasn’t exactly happy to see Weber fined $2,500 for a deliberate attempt to severely injure someone (while Paul Gaustad was trying to hack off Pavel Datsyuk’s arms and legs)?

I honestly don’t give a fuc…I mean, “It’s the playoffs, and if fans want to have fun while supporting a controversial action, I happen to be a Niklas Kronwall fan myself, so who am I to throw stones at glass houses with appliances in the front yard?”

Whatever. 97.1 FM’s Mike Valenti has gone so far as to, via RedWingsFeed, demand blood in retribution, and on a day where the Predators are trying to “Get the Red Out” by asking Potential converts to turn in their Wings gear for Predators swag before trying to beat the shit out of an Oldsmobile prior to the game (imagine if that happened in Detroit… All the talk about us violent ruffians and our bankrupt, burned-out town), even Guralnick himself, who you should follow on Twitter, is getting his quips in…

But you know what I’d love to see? The Wings give Barry Trotz reason to substantiate his claims that the Wings are interfering with Pekka Rinne. Shots on goal, as I said this morning, butts in front to screen that big opposing goalie and pounce upon rebounds, a hard-charging, physical but smart forecheck and the kind of intensity, effort, attention to detail and hate factor necessary for the Red wings to deliver a big win tonight.

Regarding the rest of it? I don’t give a flying fuc…I mean, let Predators fans have their fun, and don’t let you get your goat. Or try to sell you one of theirs.

If somebody accidentally went too hard in on Weber on the follow-through of a check or a scrum, I wouldn’t mind that, either, but the scoreboard is where revenge is truly meted out in the playoffs, and for the Red Wings, they’re in a life-or-death struggle to ensure that they’re not golfing and we’re not lamenting almost 5 months without hockey by the end of next week, so it’s about winning four games before the Predators win three more, nothing more and nothing less.

I’m not going to go ape over the Predators’ fans having a little irreverent, if perhaps a little rude playoff fun, and I’m certainly not stupid enough to try to start a flame war over their hockey chops. Weber got fined, the Wings will move on, and Predators fans love their team with as much passion and hockey savvy as we love our Wings, so let’s nip that shi…I mean “stuff” in the bud as well. I just want to see my team defeat theirs, and perhaps piss them off to no end on the way.

I sure hope Shanahan is seeing this mockery. If Weber had been suspended, even one game, his teammates AND fanbase would be treating the incident quite differently. The fact that Shanhan’s ruling ALONE basically validated the move in a sense (playoff leniency or not), an act which was clearly one of the most vicious and heinous of the season (seeing that it wasn’t even close to a “hockey play” but rather more akin to swinging your stick at someone’s head out of rage) has now become something the Predators are joking about and the fanbase seems to be taking pride in. So whether Z did anything to provoke it, whether or not he was concussed, whether or not it’s playoffs or preseason, the reactions on twitter show what kind of indirect effect supplementary discipline has on the game at large. I mean, do you really think the NHL wants this kind of publicity? Even for as starved for publicity as they are, my guess is they want this incident swept under the rug and forgotten about ASAP. The fact that small children are now mimicking this cheap shot should be a big time wakeup call for the Department of “player safety” (hmmm…. after watching this act go unpunished, it almost makes that name somewhat comical)

I think the decision worked in our favor…Weber obviously woke a sleeping giant.they looked like the wings I know & love tonight. I haven’t seen them play that hot blooded in a long time, was great to see they still have it in them. I’m *#$%@& tired of the press ragging on us. We’ve got single players with more rings than their entire lockerroom. The wings have a gear no other team has (remember the brilliant passing against boston in nov? Epic) and maybe alittle injustice was what we needed to throw it

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.